ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – Voters chose to exercise their right Thursday to vote early thanks to a new Missouri law. The St. Louis County elections office saw a steady line of voters all day.
“This is the first time we’ve had no-excuse absentee, or what I would call early voting,” said Rick Stream, Republican director of St. Louis County Board of Elections. “So, we’re not sure if the heavy turnout for early voting will translate into the same turnout on election day because we haven’t done it before.”
Stream said the heaviest voter turnout is in west county.
“Daniel Boone library, they’ve just been blowing the doors off with the turnout out there,” he said. “But the other ones too, south county down at St. Johns Church of Christ, Meramec Community College, the county library in Clayton, and our office have been fairly steady.”
Stream said so far there have been about 53,000 people who voted no-excuse absentee. He said there are more than 670,000 people actively registered to vote in the county.
“No-excuse absentee voting a great opportunity to cast your ballot early and on your own schedule,” said St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones.
More than 8,900 people had voted in the city already.
Stream said to make sure you bring a photo ID with you if you plan on voting no-excuse absentee. He said if you do not have a state or federally-issued ID, you can still vote on Election Day.
“You’re going to have to vote provisionally,” he said. “Which means that we have you fill out a blue envelope and put your name, your address, and then your signature on it, and if everything matches to what’s in the voter registration system, your ballot will count.”